Kyle S

Been having a blast throwing frogs and buzz baits lately. Today I had an absurd amount of fish that simply never got the bait in their mouth. Short strikes on the buzz baits were very minimal, however the frog blowups were out of this world! I'm talking 10-15 fish that would blow up multiple times on a cast with a frog and never eat it. Fishing very sparse vegetation. No thick mats or crazy overgrowth. Surely this happens to others.... Any suggestions on what to do when they just don't seem to commit?

Frog, buzz bait, finesse jigs.

I've been giving good ol berkley big game monofilament line a truly fair shot on just about every presentation lately. Certainly haven't been disappointed even at the slightest. I've used CF Sniper for the last couple of years which has also treated me well. I wanted to try something different a while back and also wanted that something to be more affordable. Big game was the solution. I've got tons of confidence in quality fluorocarbon lines, but wanted to see what monofilament had to offer and i'm glad I did. As far as one being less visible than the other, I don't know. fluorocarbon lines have always claimed to be invisible. My catch rate certainly has'nt decreased since switching to mono though. Whatever you have confidence in, is what I think you should use! Happy fishing!

September has been a hard month for me as well. Definitely didn't set the world on fire last year this time, however I went to the river yesterday and managed about 25 or so. I fished in a creek that the fish have been biting in all summer long. The grass has been up so high for the past month or so, however its starting to die off. All of the vegetation submerged and floating along the surface truly limits bait choices. Texas rigs of all flavors, jigs, senkos and my favorite the buzz bait. 22 of the 25 fish yesterday were all caught on a buzzbait in shallower water (1-5 feet.) Been wanting to try a johnson silver minnow with a trailer that many of you have mentioned working so well on the grass. I certainly don't feel like I've 'figured them out' by any means. Certainly curious about what some of the more experienced members have to say.

Gonna have to snag a few packs of those jokers at Walmart.

Another HUGE fan of the SLX reels. Fantastic reels and a very respectable price. As far as rods go, I've been thoroughly enjoying my Lew's Hank Parker signature series rods. Another great product at an amazing price Full price of the Shimano SLX without any discount, $99 Full price of the Lew's Hank Parker casting rod, $39 Spool that SLX up with your favorite flavor of Berkley big game and you're good to go.

8-9 hours typically. Like a few others, i'd stay longer if I didn't have obligations in the evenings.

Any of the many rivers here in Virginia offer spectacular fishing! I assume the Potomac would be the closest, providing you're coming from Maryland. The Rappahannock river is one of my personal favorites and not too terribly far either. Snakeheads, Florida strain (F1) largemouth, Crappie, just about every specie of sunfish you can think of, monster catfish that seem to like white chatter baits ?, Just about every species of freshwater fish seem to swim around in our local river systems, as well as stripers! Good luck to you wherever you go. If it were me, I'd make the trip over to Tennessee and see what @TnRiver46 's local water systems have to offer. I'm thinking smallmouth and some good Ol' white bass! Tennessee seems like an amazing place and is somewhere I'd love go and visit. Happy fishing!

I love my Sensilite. What a bummer indeed the insert is missing. Like @Bass_Fishing_Socalsaid, a replacement tip is a very easy fix and quite affordable. Shame to have to think about doing that to a brand new rod though! Hopefully wherever you bought it from takes care of you!

straight Green Pumpkin, and Zoom's Chameleon color.

Lew's 6'10" Hank Parker medium power fast action rod. Sold exclusively at walmart. $39.99

Now I know I'm not the only one who does this.

I own two black max casting reels and am looking to find aftermarket reel handles to replace the stock ones currently on it. The stock handles are practically brand new on the black max reels, however since using my Shimano SLX and Curado reels I've obtained a strong preference for the size and feel of the Shimano reel handles. Does anyone know of a reel handle that would give me the Shimano feel I'm after? Perhaps I could simply buy a Shimano reel handle and install it on the black max? Forgive my ignorance, I'm not an expert on reels. Thanks!!!

10-4? Lots of great choices out there, im sure! That Tica @bulldog1935 recommended looks fantastic! I might just have to try one out for myself. Including the 'pimped' out handle!

I too enjoy an ultralight setup. My current favorite is a shimano sensilite, 6'-6" model paired with a Daiwa Revros LT1000. I realize I said my favorite reel is the one you stated is hard to find! Sorry about that lol I just checked and Tackle warehouse has 3 LT2000 Revros's in stock.

I feel that what works best in your fishery needs to also be taken into consideration. For example, I almost exclusively fished the pamunkey river last year. I felt like getting them to bite something over 4" long was impossible. Fast forward to this year and switching fisheries, i'm catching them on much larger baits even top water lures. Love me some soft plastics!

Thanks fellas!

I've got a 40 hp mercury 4 stroke that pushes my boat along nicely. I want to keep it running great just like it has been. What kind of preventative maintenance do some of you guys do yourself? What kind of maintenance qualifies taking it into the shop? I realize that is a subjective question, and dependent on ones own mechanical ability. I've had the boat and motor exactly a year. It has right around 40 hrs on it. No maintenance has been performed since i purchased the boat new last year. Outside of checking the oil level, of course. I'm not too sure what else to look for. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

It was a part of a combo rod my girlfriend bought for me 7 years ago. 7' mh fast Bill dance casting rod, with a Quantum 6:4:1 casting reel. caught loads of fish on that set up, including my PB of 7lbs.

@Dirtyeggroll What a great looking boat! You've recommended buying an older ranger to me a few times during my posts on here asking for help when I was purchasing my boat. I see why! That thing looks awesome! Love all of the mods you've done to it! Hows that motor holding up!? I Assume its the original outboard that came with the boat?

After many frustrations and inconsistencies with barbers and stylists alike, I turned to my trusty friend....YouTube. I watched a many video about cutting your own hair and the methods behind it. The most important bit to me is the three way mirror. This is a model that was recommended on YouTube years ago however I built my own. I've given myself a few bad haircuts especially at first, however I've been successfully giving myself a decent faded style haircut for a few years now. The only bad parts is once you start cutting your own and people know about it, they ask if I can cut their hair as well.

What are some models of non inflatable PFD's that you all could recommend? I currently own (2) bass pro shops branded inflatable PFD's which reside on my boat, however the thought has occurred to me more than once..."what if this thing doesn't deploy when I need it to?!" I've recently found that a fellow BR member and I share this thought so I figured I'd ask you all for some recommendations on eliminating it.

I too have had those same thoughts. While the inflatable PFD's are certainly more comfortable and less cumbersome, none of that matters if they don't do what they're supposed to in an emergency situation. Right now I own two Bass Pro shops branded inflatable PFD's. I believe this conversation and the underlying thoughts of 'what if this thing doesn't deploy!?' is what's causing me to shop for standard PFD's to have on my boat.